I was very fortunate to be selected to present a 20 minute paper at the Excess and Desire conference this week at UQ. I presented a (heavily edited) version of the exegetical component of my Honours project, exploring contemporary female comedic memoir, and was able to spend three days listening to amazing women from around the world discuss literature, creativity, and diversity. There were papers on classical Indian dance as revisionist feminism, home improvement as a theme in contemporary poetry, nomadic Iranian writing, and more. I also attended a workshop on ‘multi-lingual excess in a national cultural frame’ as presented by Sneja Gunew. It was a most excellent time, and I want to go there… again.

This paper offers a discussion of a desire for empowering and multi-faceted representations of women as represented in comedic memoir. It considers the ways in which female comedic memoir combines the feminist possibilities of both comedy and memoir to open a unique space for feminist representations of identity. Such representations often include “failures of femininity,” a term coined by Helen M. Buss (2002, 65) and drawing from the work of Judith Butler (2007, 145) to refer to unattainable gender ideals dictated by patriarchal tradition. This paper examines how female comedic memoirists juxtapose their failures of femininity alongside their personal successes in an aggregate feminist act. Contemporary comedic memoirists Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, and Amy Schumer are analysed to provide contextual evidence. I contend that the synergistic intersection of female comedy and memoir opens a space for intimate and disruptive representations of women. Further, I suggest that the juxtaposition of failures of femininity and personal success ameliorates some of the potential pitfalls of depicting failures of femininity alone. It dimensionalises women, creating constructions that depict women failing to live up to unattainable ideals and thereby pointing out the fallacy of those ideals. It depicts women as more than just these failures, or moments of resistance.

Katharine Pollock recently completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) (Creative and Professional Writing) at QUT, receiving first-class honours and a University Medal. She has had creative work published in Kill Your Darlings, Funny Ha Ha, Novel Collective, and Lip Magazine, and has contributed reviews to Lip Magazine and The Music. This paper is based upon the findings of her Honours project, in which she examined female comedic memoir in an integrated creative and exegetical thesis. She plans to continue researching femaleness and feminism on her return to postgraduate study.

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing Patricia Pender’s I’m Buffy and You’re History, a book examining Buffy the Vampire Slayer through a feminist academic lens. It was as though I’d stepped into a parallel universe – not one without shrimp – but one where a book was written just for me. Follow the link below to read my review, nerds!

I had a personal essay published in the gals only edition of Funny Ha Ha, which is available for purchase now! It also features writing by Mia Timpano and an interview with Margaret Cho! My piece is called ‘And I was like, Baby, Baby, Baby’ and it discusses what it’s like to poop your pants twice in one year! Needless to say, I’m stoked.

Holy dooley, I made a YouTube video! I read a lil’ thing called The Ugly Truth at QUT’s Open Day last month. It’s a shortened version of a personal essay from my honours project, and it discusses the way women’s bodies are analysed and criticised. Beautiful angels Mindy Gill, Alex Philp, and Miranda Debeljakovic, Kat Gibson, and Kelly Palmer also read on the day, and like Mel C timelessly sang, things will never be the same again after their rousing performances. Mad props to Clancy for filming and uploading the vid onto my computer.

After a butt load of rejections, I am super stoked to share that Novel Collective will be publishing three of my poems from a collection entitled ‘Blue Thigh Highs Society’ on their site over the ensuing weeks. Expect cheeky feminist undertones and pop culture references left right and centre.

]]>https://kathyjanepollock.com/2016/04/19/novel-collective/feed/0Bio pickathyjanepollockWhen You Are Engulfed In Flaming Regrethttps://kathyjanepollock.com/2016/03/24/when-you-are-engulfed-in-flaming-regret-2/
https://kathyjanepollock.com/2016/03/24/when-you-are-engulfed-in-flaming-regret-2/#respondThu, 24 Mar 2016 10:29:47 +0000http://kathyjanepollock.com/?p=136Hello, Kathy here, remember that time I got published by Kill Your Darlings, before I got 25 rejections in 3 months? Well, if you didn’t get a chance to read my essay it’s still up and now it’s accompanied by a picture of me, fresh-faced and full of hope.